Position Paper

SAN FRANCISCO'S INCREASED POLICE ADMINISTRATIVE FEE

San Francisco has enjoyed a long relationship with motion pictures.  This relationship has created the image of The City as one of the most romantic places on earth in the minds of moviegoers everywhere. 

Numerous reports have stated that San Francisco's appearance in films and on television has developed a tourist value and an economic benefit that are so great and so pervasive that they cannot be accurately estimated.

These benefits are felt by all The City's residents, either directly in the form of income, or indirectly in the form of improved civic services and facilities.  The ability to retain and increase these benefits for the citizens of San Francisco is dependent on a continued positive relationship with film producers and studios.

At a time when many other countries — and other US cities — are successfully luring film production away from traditional production centers, aggressive rate policies in San Francisco will certainly have negative effects on filming here. 

Currently, the market for large-scale visiting productions is in a delicate position:  without some positive incentive programs in place, the producers of big-budget films will pass over a city in favor of more economical and/or film-friendly locations. 

We regularly see production companies come to town to shoot only the Golden Gate Bridge and a few recognizable exteriors, then leave to shoot most of the production elsewhere.

Prime examples of this situation:  a number of current TV series actually set in San Francisco that film here intermittently — if at all.

Rate hikes of the kind under discussion here — which is admitted by the City Controller to be 2.5 times the nationally-accepted fee, and more than 5 times the actual cost of administering the department —will create predictable negative consequences for years to come. 

Local filming of all kinds —TV, feature films and commercials —will diminish, and legions of craftspeople dependent on the film industry will suffer.  Additionally, many local vendors and service-providers will lose significant portions of their trade as well —hotels, restaurants, dry-cleaners, car rental agencies, and other retailers.

The Bay Area Film Alliance recommends that the City of San Francisco rescind the recent 27.51% rate hike for "police administrative services," and that any future policies set forth by local governments be well thought-out in order to keep from creating a deleterious effect on the business community at all levels.

Official Document, Original 26 September, 2002